Northern Ireland

This entry, along with the next few are INCREDIBLY delayed. I can't really blame not having time... just not making the time, but before the next big thing starts, lets get to story-telling.

After being back in the states for a couple months, which included a family wedding, a few engagement parties for one of my best friends, working as a permanent sub for a Spanish class (I know... what?!?) and Michael doing some other temp work, we set off on our planned "Euro-trip" using our airline miles accumulated over the last year, taking full advantage of the time in our lives that would lend itself to traveling for a longer period of time, without it being summer.  After quite a bit of thought (and a map of Europe with a daunting number of circles of places we wanted to visit) we decided to narrow down our trip in order to spend more time in a few places instead of more places in a few days:  Ireland, London, Paris... and one month to see what we could.

We flew into Belfast where we were greeted by Jacqui (you remember her) and her Irish boyfriend Sean (who would be our chauffeur for the next couple of weeks) and got excited to begin the first part of our trip which would be an almost 2 week road trip around Ireland.  

We spent the first day trying super hard to defeat the jet-lag by staying up... no napping allowed... and visiting some of the lovely parts near Ardglass (where Sean is from) in Northern Ireland including the coastal views of Newcastle, our first of many Irish-castles, a gorgeous sunset, and an old school lighthouse.  

Reunited in Newcastle

View from the Castle

Supposedly Brad Pitt stayed here once...

On our second day we took a drive to the Ferry that would take us to the town of Portaferry (clever) and visited the Exploris Aquarium that Sean has spent many hours at over the years.  Friends in high places meant a tour for free and a VIP ride in the control room of the ferry (out of the wind).

We spent the afternoon walking around the grounds of Castle Ward which boasts filming sites of Game of Thrones (like almost everywhere in Ireland it seems) and stunning views and gardens.  

Then we took a drive up the road to Downpatrick, home to St. Patrick's grave.  Legend has it that there are no snakes in Ireland because good ole Patrick drove them all away.  I can get behind that.

We rounded out our time in County Down with a few pints at the local Pub with friends and family of Sean.  It was as charming as one could imagine and the company was equally as friendly.  

The next morning we set off on the first leg of our road trip around the coast of Northern Ireland and then the uneventful and anti-climatic crossing of  the Northern Irish/Republic of Ireland border into Slaigo.

Our first stop was  the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge which is exactly what it sounds like... a rope bridge about 100 feet above the rocks below.  It was a nerve-wracking walk of about 70 feet across, but the views of the coastal rocks and green pastures were totally worth it.

View of the bridge from afar (where we stopped to eat our picnic lunch)

Survival!!

We continued up the road (not very far) to our first World Heritage Site of the trip The Giant's Causeway, a natural geological wonder.  The folklore surrounding the Causeway is the story I choose to believe. Basically, a giant named Finn MacCool  decided that he wanted to challenge a Scottish giant, so he built the causeway as a sort of bridge to Scotland because giants getting their feet wet (duh).  However, Finn being the pansy he was, when he got there to challenge the other giant, Benandonner, he realizes that challenging a bigger,meaner giant maybe wasn't the best idea he ever had and he hurries back home.  Ben chases Finn all the way back to his house (presumably never getting a good look at him) where Finn's wife dressed Finn in a baby bonnet, handed him a rattle and when "Ben" came a knockin, looking for Finn, she said he'd gone out but to look at their adorable baby.  Ben got one glimpse of "Baby Finn" and thought if the baby was that big, the child's father must be an uber giant and he sprinted back to Scotland, pushing the Causeway back into the water with every giant-footed step.
Regardless of the fact that Finn is obviously a coward, the Causeway is an incredibly unique and grandiose site, and the visitor's center and audio guide make a very pleasant visiting experience.

                                         

After leaving the causeway, we made our way to our hostel near Slaigo, which was actually an old convent thing in the middle of nowhere (something out of a scary movie), where a basket weaving class was taking place at 8:30 at night.  Aside from that, we finished our first (and longest) day on the road by making some dinner, playing some cards, and successfully removing a cork from a wine bottle without an opener.  Go us.